Life Sciences & Healthcare

In a March 18, 2019 paper entitled “EU industrial policy after Siemens/Alstom: Finding a New Balance Between Openness and Protection,” the Commission’s think tank, the European Political Strategy Centre, responds to the “significant backlash against EU competition policy” stemming from its prohibition of the Siemens/Alstom merger in February (reported in the EU Competition Law Newsletter of February 2019).[1]

On March 5, 2019, the French Competition Authority celebrated its 10 years of existence. The President of the Competition Authority listed her priorities for the coming years, which include the retail sector and purchasing alliances, digital economy, “predatory” acquisitions and reflection on ex post control, as well as the labour market and labour collective agreements.

On February 14, 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”) found in SA-Capital Oy v. Finland, that the Finnish Supreme Administrative Court had not violated SA-Capital’s right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights by partially relying on hearsay evidence in finding the existence and the scope of a cartel.[1] In particular, given the evidentiary complexity of cartel infringements, the ECtHR concluded that national competition authorities may use hearsay to the extent their findings do not solely depend on it.[2]

In October 2017, the CMA obtained a warrant to enter Concordia’s (now called Advanz Pharma) business premises and search for documents relating to suspected anticompetitive behaviour in the pharmaceutical sector. Concordia applied to have the warrant discharged because it had been cooperating with the CMA’s investigation, and so there was no basis for the CMA to suspect that it would tamper with evidence.

CMA Activity

As in 2017, the CMA leadership devoted much of 2018 to preparing for Brexit – publishing draft regulations, revising guidance, and increasing the CMA’s workforce.

The Commission issued fines totaling €6.5 billion in 2018, which is a new record and almost double the amount of competition fines in 2017.

The Commission issued fines totaling €6.5 billion in 2018, which is a new record and almost double the amount of competition fines in 2017.

Three years after the introduction of a settlement procedure in its legal arsenal, the FCA has issued guidelines on the conduct of settlement proceedings (the “Settlement Notice”). The Settlement Notice aims at clarifying the framework under which companies may be granted fine reductions in the context of antitrust investigations. However, several questions are still pending, including the determination of the final amount of the fine by the FCA’s Collège and the impact of settlement proceedings on follow-on damages claims.